CUSTOMERS could soon take a free canal boat trip as they wait for their car to be serviced at a new dealership.

The novel scheme may eventually be on offer at a £2.5m car complex being opened by the Mitchell Group next to J10 of the M53 motorway near Ellesmere Port next Monday.

The dealership, which will have franchises for Mazda and Skoda, owns 200 metres of the Shropshire Union Canal frontage and is close to buying a 25ft Mazda-branded narrow boat to provide water-borne trips for customers while their cars are serviced.

Fifty jobs have been created at the dealership, which includes a showroom, a workshop and a first-floor lounge for customers.

The £40,000 lounge area has views into the showroom, workshop and the countryside beyond. It is fitted with plasma screens, an internet cafe, and will have all-day complimentary refreshments.

The 25,000 square foot complex is the group's greatest investment to date and is part of a £6m project which also includes the company's existing neighbouring Lexus dealership.

In March, hundreds of loyal customers turned up for Operation Hard Hat to mark the start of building work on the latest development.

Wearing wellies and protective head gear and brandishing garden spades, some of them even brought along their kids for a day out with a difference.

Group managing director Mark Mitchell said: 'Our group has long since recognised that selling cars is about people and an engaging experience.

'Through our existing franchises we have always offered unique customer services, whether that is wash-and-go car washing every Saturday for life, or a drop-off-and-collect shopping trip to Cheshire Oaks while we service your car.'

Mark, 42, is an economics graduate and former Austin Rover graduate trainee.

He founded the Mitchell Group for just £100 in 1990 and opened the first dealership in 1996.